PERMANENT WAVES

Rush

Heavy Prog

4.27 | 2310 ratings

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The Crow
Prog Reviewer

This is an splendid album... But not a masterpiece in my opinion!

The disc starts in a magnificient way with the hits The Spirit of Radio and Freewill... I specially like the first one, being a really catchy track with even a reggea middle part! Freewill is also another anthem with a great solo and Geddy's bass playing.

Then, comes another great Rush's song... The proggy Jacob's Ladder, a song full of soundscapes in the vein of Vangelis and with a good keyboard's work. I also like the riffing of the song... A Rush's little classic. But then, the album enters in a kind of weak section... Entre Nous is a usual rock song in the vein of Caress of Steel or the short tracks of 2112. Just an OK rock song, but nothing special... And Different Strings is also not very interesting. A slow track with some interesting bass playing, but not really inspired.

Luckily, the end of the album is brilliant... Natural Science returns the power of the beginning, even surpasing it. The first acoustic guitars are the introduction for an amount of catchy and variated riffs, offering the most progressive track of the album, and maybe the best one. Is the perfect good bye for an excellent (but far from perfect...) album.

Best tracks: the level of the album is very high... Only Entre Nous and Different Strings are not great songs. The rest are excellent pieces of music.

Conclusion: Permanent Waves is not so progressive as Hemispheres, and not so high in quality as A Farewell to Kings... Is also maybe a bit under the quality of Moving Picgtures. But it is an excellent album anyway, with a use of keyboards and some song structures wich give a glimpse of what Rush would make through the 80's. This is a brilliant closing to a decade, and a transition to a new Rush's era. And of course, a worthy addition to any collection of good music.

My rating: ****

The Crow | 4/5 | 2008-8-25

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